When former FBI Director James Comey abruptly closed the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server last summer, it was in response to a piece of Russian intelligence purporting that then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch had assured the Clinton campaign the investigation would not be vigorously pursued. Comey reportedly knew that the Russian intelligence was actually false, officials with knowledge of the situation told CNN.
Officials told The Washington Post Comey felt he had "little choice" but to close the investigation "because he feared that if ... the secret document leaked, the legitimacy of the entire case would be questioned."
CNN writes that "Comey's actions based on what he knew was Russian disinformation offer a stark example of the way Russian interference impacted the decisions of the highest-level U.S. officials during the 2016 campaign." Read more about how Comey treated the false information at CNN.